The Moncton Technology Planning Group (MTPG) launched a technology growth strategy targeting Moncton’s technology-based strengths and opportunities at Moncton city hall yesterday, aimed at helping the region find its niche in the global economy.
About 50 community leaders and representatives of some of the more than 400 tech-based and knowledge firms in southeastern New Brunswick were on hand to hear Dr. David Gibson present the results of eight months of extensive analysis and consultation carried out by IC2 Institute and the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Texas at Austin.
Gibson and his local partners were working from the executive summary of a much more extensive report to be released in about a month.
Among the ideas found in the plan is the establishment of the Moncton Technology Commercialization Centre, a business incubator which will support existing clusters in information and communications technologies (ICT). It would have a near-term focus on ICT, gaming, animation and bioinformatics, as well as a longer-term focus on biosciences and thin film technologies.
Spielo founder and local success story Jon Manship was at city hall for the presentation yesterday. Now the chairman of Technology Ventures Corporation, Manship said, “building a brand clearly defining Moncton as a technology centre of excellence will help promote our region as a hospitable place for technology entrepreneurs and foster the strong growth of our knowledge-based economy.”
Good to see Moncton taking the bull by the horns on this. There was a time, it seems to this old fart, that local communities relied – more or less – on the provincial government to do ‘economic development’ in any meaningful way.
Not any longer. There are aggressive strategies in place in Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton and beyond. It’s a bit sad that this local initiative was born out of a collapse in provincial government effort.
Maybe now there will be some realignment and synergy.
How’s that for two passe and trite late 1990s corporatespeak words in the same sentence?